Friday, March 4, 2016

A trip to Fort Myers: Game 2

Lots of things I could talk about from Thursday night's game, but I'll just hit a handful of items that struck me as noteworthy:

Miguel Sano got lost on a ball hit over his head in a three-run Red Sox inning. I'm not saying it was an easy play, and I'm not saying every major league right fielder makes that play, but I will say it was a ball I expect a major league right fielder to catch. He didn't.

Ricky Nolasco, who gave up those three runs, hit 92 mph on the scoreboard velocity readings with frequency. On the other hand, he needed 37 pitches to get four outs, and this was against a lineup of scrubs and minor leaguers; the Red Sox brought no regulars to Hammond Stadium.

Taylor Rogers, who is prominent on my list of lefty relief candidates, gave up three runs before recording an out in the eighth inning.

None of these events necessarily establishes anything -- it's the second spring training game, after all -- but they are perhaps predictive.

Sano is obviously a work in progress in the outfield, and there are bound to be misplays and "learning moments" out there for him. As I said at the start of the week, the word is patience,

Nolasco ... my hope has been that he'll show enough to pique the interest of some club that needs a starter. The line score from this outing is ugly, but Sano was part of the problem. More important, if the stadium gun reading is accurate, he still might attract some interest.

Rogers hit the first man he faced, then gave up double, double, single and walk before retiring three in a row. Ugly outing, without question, but he found his way out of it. He didn't help his cause with the first five batters, but he might have saved his cause with the next three.